Where Flowers Don't Grow
by NinjaCupcackles
Summary: When Gaara comes to Konoha for the first time since he became kazekage, he meets Ino Yamanaka and knows straight away that he loves her. But when Ino discovers the truth about his dark past, will she be able to return his love? GaaraxIno
1. Chapter 1

**My first proper fanfic!**

**Again, this will probably be quite OOC for most characters. Especially Gaara.**

**It's set sometime in between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, at a chunin exam. I think it's the second one after Naruto leaves (these things are yearly right?) so some characters are chunins and some aren't. Lots of things probably aren't very accurate. And Gaara's kazekage. I haven't seen much of Shippuden, so I don't know whether it's ever covered when Gaara becomes kazekage… Anyway, I'm rambling – so here's a story!**

"I can remember when we were here," said the pink haired girl, gazing out to the arena below.

"It was only last year!" said her friend, smiling.

"Really? It feels much longer ago."

Ino looked at Sakura and raised an eyebrow, but the girl's attention was fixed on the fight. She shrugged, leant backwards in her chair and yawned. The fight ended quickly, and Sakura sighed.

"Well, that was dull," she said.

"What? It's over?" Ino remarked sarcastically opening one eye.

Sakura laughed.

"Choji's up next," said Sakura, and Ino sat up.

"I guess I better watch then," said Ino, "Seeing as that's the reason I came."

"Sakura!"

Sakura jumped as someone shouted her name, and turned around to see Tsunade – the fifth Hokage and her teacher, smiling at her from her seat.

"Come up here! You can see better."

Sakura looked at where the hokage was sat, next to the new kazekage. They had the best seats in the stadium, separated from the others.

"Come on!"

Sakura nodded, and looked back at Ino.

"See you later…" she started, but was interrupted once more by Tsunade.

"Bring her too!"

"Do you want to come?"

"Sure," said Ino, grabbing her bag.

She looked down into the arena and checked that Choji's fight still hadn't started before following Sakura through the rows of seats. Sakura sat down next to the hokage, and Ino sat down uncomfortably next to her. She listened to Tsunade and Sakura talking for a while, but soon grew bored of the conversation.

"Hurry up and start…" she muttered to herself, watching the arena.

The fight started soon, and Ino cheered enthusiastically for Choji, but her cheers faded as Sakura didn't join in.

"Ino…" Sakura whispered.

"What?" Ino snapped.

"You're drawing attention to us…"

"Let her have her fun!" said Tsunade, "He's your team-mate, you should support him."

Ino smiled at the hokage and cheered again, but less enthusiastically this time. Eventually, her cheers faded all together and she watched the fight keenly. She groaned as the fight finished – Choji had lost. She looked pleadingly at Tsunade.

"Please let him through," she said to the hokage, "Please."

"Ino!" Sakura exclaimed, but Tsunade smiled.

"I'll see what I can do," she replied, and the kazekage glared at her.

Ino looked at the Kazekage. She couldn't see much of his face under his hat, and she assumed that the majority of his face was concealed anyway, like many of the other sand shinobi. He seemed emotionless, his attention hadn't once strayed from the battles.

"That's not how it works," he said, his voice flat, "Only those who have shown themselves to be good enough can become chunins."

Ino crossed her arms, and was about to speak back to the kazekage when Tsunade spoke for her.

"I know that," she said, "And I think that that kid'll make a good shinobi."

The kazekage glared at her again, his green eyes narrowing. Tsunade ignored him and sat back down to talk to Sakura. Ino said nothing until all the fights had finished.

***

The next day, Ino sat behind the counter in her shop, absent-mindedly arranging a small vase of roses. Business had been slow, and she was getting tired. As she was thinking about closing for the night, the bell above the door rang, and a red-haired boy walked in. He was tall and handsome, but there was something about him which didn't seem right. Ino looked at him again – he looked familiar. She gasped as she realised it – the boy was the kazekage. He couldn't have been much older than her, but his eyes… there was no mistaking who he was.

"Excuse me?" she asked, and he turned to look at her, "Um… can I help you?"

"No… thank you."

He went back to looking around the shop.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Ino asked.

"No," he said, "I'm just looking."

"Why?"

He sighed.

"Flowers don't grow in the desert."

Ino said nothing more, and left him to look at the flowers. After a while, he walked back through the shop, as if to leave, when he said:

"You're the girl from the chunin exam, aren't you?"

"Eh?"

"You wanted your friend to become a chunin."

"Yes…" said Ino hesitantly.

"Good news," said the kazekage, with a slight smile, "he got the promotion."

Ino beamed at him from behind the counter.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama!" she shouted, and the boy cringed slightly.

"Gaara," he said.

"Eh?"

"My name is Gaara."

"Thank you Gaara," she said, quieter than the last time.

As he was about to leave, she picked one red rose from the vase on the counter and threw it to him. Surprised, he caught it, and looked at it in his hands.

"I thought you'd like it," said Ino, smiling.

Gaara returned her smile, and left the shop. Outside, he looked up at the sign above his head. He smiled to himself.

"Yamanaka," he whispered, "Ino Yamanaka."

**Thank you for reading! Please review!  
**

**This won't be very long, but I might write more if you like it enough. Reviews make me write quicker!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all of the comments on chapter one! Chapter two's a bit shorter.**

**The characters are even more OOC this time… And I know that Ino and Sakura shouldn't get along so well. **

Gaara sat in the long grass, underneath a tall tree, staring at the silver moon that hung in the dark blue sky. He heard movement behind him and turned to see Ino standing in the field, some distance away from him.

"I'm guessing that they don't have fields in the desert either!" she called out to him.

"I like it here," he replied.

Ino ran over and sat down beside him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Same as you," she said, and fell backwards into the grass, "It's peaceful."

She turned her head to face him, and noticed that he was still holding the rose that she had given him. He saw that she was looking at him, and threw the rose to his side -embarrassed. Ino smiled.

"So… when are you going back home?" she asked him.

"Three days," said Gaara,

"Shame," said Ino, "There's a lot more for you to see here. What do you think of Konoha then?"

"It's nice," Gaara replied, "I didn't remember it being like this. But last time I came… I was a very different person."

Ino sat up slowly and Gaara turned away from her slightly, his head bowed.

"As in you weren't Kazekage?" said Ino.

"It's more than that," he said, looking back up at the moon.

"It can't be easy," said Ino, "Being Kazekage I mean. I don't think I could do it."

"It makes a nice change from what I was before," said Gaara, forcing a smile.

"I remember you from the first time I entered the exam," said Ino, "You were really scary."

"I'm not proud of what I was then," he said, to himself as much as Ino.

They sat in silence for a while, not making eye contact.

"So… you work in a flower shop?" asked Gaara eventually, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah," said Ino, "only part time though. It's my parents shop."

"What do you do for the rest of the time?"

"I'm a chunin," said Ino proudly, "At some point I'd like to stop working at the shop completely."

"And do what?"

"I don't know yet. But I've got my whole life ahead of me," she sighed and looked up at the stars, "Why did you let him pass?"

"Who?"

"Choji – at the exams yesterday."

"Well… he fought well and…"

"The real reason."

Gaara glanced at Ino, then looked away again.

"When he lost his fight…" he said quietly, and Ino leant forward to hear, "You looked so sad. And I didn't like it. You'd been so happy, and… I wanted you to be happy again. Because I liked you. You were lively, and energetic, and full of life. I respected you."

Ino thought back to how the Kazekage had been when she first met him, quiet and tense. She had thought that he hadn't even noticed her, let alone liked her.

"And then," Gaara continued, "When I saw you earlier, and I told you what I'd done, you were happy again. And I knew that I had done the right thing, because I was happy too. I was so glad to see you cheerful again because I hate it when you're sad. I hate it…"

He paused and turned towards Ino, who seemed to be lost in his words.

"…Because I love you."

Ino gasped, and stared at Gaara. The Kazekage blushed slightly.

"Gaara…" she whispered.

She threw her arms around his neck, and Gaara's eyes widened. Awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around her, somehow unable to relax. Ino closed her eyes and smiled.

"I think I love you too," she said softly.

***

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura!"

Ino knocked rapidly on the door, until the pink-haired girl opened it, still dressed in her night clothes.

"Ino…" she groaned, "Do you know what time it is?"

"Nope!" said Ino, and barged past Sakura, who was standing – barely awake – in the doorway.

"What are you doing up?" asked Sakura, rubbing her eyes as Ino threw herself into a chair, "It's a bit early for you – isn't it."

"Yeah… But you'll never guess what happened last night!" Ino grinned at her friend.

"What?" Sakura said, sitting down opposite Ino.

"I think I'm in love!" Ino exclaimed, and leant backwards in her chair.

"That's great Ino…" said Sakura.

"But it's not like it was with Sasuke…" said Ino, and Sakura glared at her, "Oh yeah, still not allowed to say that name, am I? But it's like the real thing! I really _really _like him!"

Ino beamed at Sakura, who was still trying to wake herself up.

"Who is it then?" asked Sakura half-heartedly.

"Well," said Ino, "he's from the sand village, his name's Gaara – and he's the Kazekage!"

"Wait…" said Sakura, finally paying attention to her friends ramblings, "Did you say Gaara?"

"Yep," said Ino, "But did you hear me right – he's the kazekage!"

"Ino," said Sakura solemnly, "You must never, ever see him again. He'll kill you."

"Why?" asked Ino, laughing.

"He's a monster!" shouted Sakura, "Don't you know what he did to me?"

**And that's chapter two over. I assumed that Sakura would still be a little angry at Gaara. I've kind of rushed into the whole "I love you" thing, but the story's not going to be that long.**

**Please review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I feel so bad about not updating for so long, I am really sorry!**

"Ino."

"Yes, Ino Yamanaka," said Gaara, looking at his sister.

Temari sniggered slightly, and Gaara scowled at her.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Gaara, tentatively picking at his food.

"She's not the kind of girl you want to be seeing," said Temari.

"How do you know?" Gaara snapped.

"Shikamaru's told me lots about her," said Temari, breaking eye-contact with her younger brother, "I've met her a few times. Trust me on this Gaara – she's not a good person."

Gaara clenched his hand into a fist and glared at his sister.

"You're wrong about her," he growled, "You can't have met her and not realised how good she is. Sure – she might come off a little strong, but if you spend more than five minutes with her, you'll realise what a good, kind person she is."

Temari sighed and looked at Gaara.

"Whatever, just don't come crying to me when you realise that I'm right."

She stood up and left the room, with Gaara watching her every movement. When she had gone, Gaara stood up and pulled the rose out of his pocket.

"She's wrong," he murmured to himself, looking at the slightly battered red rose, "She must be wrong."

***

Ino slumped back in her chair, tears rolling down her pale face.

"I… I had no idea," she whispered, and Sakura looked at her – concerned.

"It's ok," said Sakura, "I can't blame you. How were you meant to know that he's a psychotic killer?"

Ino stared at the floor, her head spinning.

"_But last time I came… I was a very different person."_

Gaara's words echoed in her head, as she looked up at Sakura, breathing heavily as she tried to stop her tears.

"He's… He's not. He's changed! He told me!"

"Do you know anyone who's ever really changed?" asked Sakura, "Everyone is who they were born to be, nothing can change that."

"You."

"Eh?"

"You. You've changed. You were so withdrawn, silent – a wreck! Then I changed you – like how I can change him."

"Were you even listening to me?" snapped Sakura, "He's evil! If you try to get close to him then you'll die!"

"I…" Ino's eyes darted up to a clock on the wall, "I have to get to work."

She stood up, trembling, and strode away from her friend.

"Ino."

Ino paused in the doorway, biting her lip to hold back tears.

"You can ignore me if you like, but you know I'm right – you're just too stubborn to admit it."

Ino walked on, until she was out of sight of Sakura's door, then she ran, letting her tears run free. She kept on running until she was out of the village, not caring who saw her cry. She slumped onto the floor and screamed, refusing to listen to what Sakura had told her. He couldn't be evil, no one who looked at her like he did could be evil. No one who told her what he had could be evil. Ino looked up at the sky, obscured by treetops. But, she thought, no one who had killed so many people couldn't be evil. If it was Sakura in love, or anyone else, then she would have warned her against it. Sakura was only trying to protect her. Suddenly, she realised that her tears were beginning to stop. She'd stopped believing her own story.

***

The sight of all the flowers, the sweet smell of the shop, made Gaara feel happy. He could feel at peace here. Walking around the displays of brightly coloured flowers, he noticed that there was no one behind the counter.

"Ino?"

He turned the corner to see the blonde girl organising some flowers in the back of the shop. When she noticed him, he saw her grow tense and rigid.

"Ino?" He asked, walking over to her, "Are you alright?"

She didn't turn to look at him, and as he put his hand on her shoulder she flinched and pulled away.

"Don't touch me," she murmured.

"Are you okay?"

"I said: don't touch me!" she yelled, spinning around.

"What?" Gaara exclaimed.

"You monster!" she screeched, backing away from the shocked Kazekage, "Don't come near me!"

"I… I don't understand!"

"Don't act so innocent! I know what you've done! How many people are dead because of you! You tried to kill my best friend!"

Gaara backed away from the furious Ino.

"That's all in the past – I've changed!"

"I can't believe you," said Ino, shaking, "I tried to trick myself into believing that there was some good in you, but I had let my emotions cloud my judgement."

"Ino… I really am a different person."

Ino remained silent, and turned away from him, choking on tears that she was trying to hold down.

"J…Just go," she muttered.

Gaara opened his mouth to protest, but shook him head and turned his back on the girl. A new fury awake in his eyes, he stormed out of the shop. As the door slammed shut, Ino turned her head to where he had been, her despairing eyes wet with tears.

"I told you she was bad news," said Temari with a smirk from where she leant against the wall of the shop.

"We're leaving," said Gaara without looking at his smug sister.

"What? Now?" she ran after him to keep up with his long stride, "But you have to finish with the exams…"

"Don't argue with me!"

"Listen – you might be the kazekage, but I'm still your sister. You can probably get it all sorted today, and leave tomorrow."

"Fine," said Gaara.

Temari stopped chasing after him, and looked worriedly at him.

"What did that girl do to him..?" she whispered.

**Well, wasn't that happy! I think Ino cried a bit too much…**

**I promise I'll update quicker next time! **

**Please review!**


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